MIPAS temperature from the stratosphere to the lower thermosphere: Comparison of vM21 with ACE-FTS, MLS, OSIRIS, SABER, SOFIE and lidar measurements

Abstract

Abstract. We present vM21 MIPAS temperatures from the lower stratosphere to the lower thermosphere, which cover all optimized resolution measurements performed by MIPAS in the middle-atmosphere, upper-atmosphere and noctilucent-cloud modes during its lifetime, i.e., from January 2005 to April 2012. The main upgrades with respect to the previous version of MIPAS temperatures (vM11) are the update of the spectroscopic database, the use of a different climatology of atomic oxygen and carbon dioxide, and the improvement in important technical aspects of the retrieval setup (temperature gradient along the line of sight and offset regularizations, apodization accuracy). Additionally, an updated version of ESA-calibrated L1b spectra (5.02/5.06) is used. The vM21 temperatures correct the main systematic errors of the previous version because they provide on average a 1–2 K warmer stratopause and middle mesosphere, and a 6–10 K colder mesopause (except in high-latitude summers) and lower thermosphere. These lead to a remarkable improvement in MIPAS comparisons with ACE-FTS, MLS, OSIRIS, SABER, SOFIE and the two Rayleigh lidars at Mauna Loa and Table Mountain, which, with a few specific exceptions, typically exhibit differences smaller than 1 K below 50 km and than 2 K at 50–80 km in spring, autumn and winter at all latitudes, and summer at low to midlatitudes. Differences in the high-latitude summers are typically smaller than 1 K below 50 km, smaller than 2 K at 50–65 km and 5 K at 65–80 km. Differences between MIPAS and the other instruments in the mid-mesosphere are generally negative. MIPAS mesopause is within 4 K of the other instruments measurements, except in the high-latitude summers, when it is within 5–10 K, being warmer there than SABER, MLS and OSIRIS and colder than ACE-FTS and SOFIE. The agreement in the lower thermosphere is typically better than 5 K, except for high latitudes during spring and summer, when MIPAS usually exhibits larger vertical gradients.

Neutral atmosphere temperature trends and variability at 90 km, 70 °N, 19 °E, 2003–2014

“…French and Mulligan (2010) report that Aura MLS temperatures exhibit a 10 K cold bias compared with OH * (6-2) nightly temperatures at Davis Station, Antarctica. A newer study by García-Comas et al (2014) shows that Aura MLS exhibits a bias compared with several satellite instruments which varies with season. According to their findings, a 10 K correction for cold bias was applied to the Aura summer and winter temperatures (June-August, DecemberFebruary), while a 5 K correction was applied to autumn and spring temperatures (September-November, March-May).…”

On the improved stability of the version 7 MIPAS ozone record

“…The latter data were already validated for both temperature (García-Comas et al, 2014) and for O 3 (López-Puertas et al, 2018). Figure 1 shows climatological mean differences in ozone (top row) and temperature (bottom row) for version 5 (old) (left column) and version 7 (new) (right column).…”

“…Validation results of the previous version were found to be particularly biased during such elevated stratopause events. Thus, in this new version, a priori information on temperature at altitudes above 60 km is taken from a dedicated temperature climatology based on simulations of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) and MIPAS middle and upper atmospheric mode temperatures from version 5 (García-Comas et al, 2014). The WACCM temperature fields were taken from CCMI-REFC1SD simulations, in specified dynamics mode, sampled at MIPAS locations and times.…”

“…The WACCM model is described in detail by Marsh (2011) and Marsh et al (2013), while the implementation of the specified dynamics mode and the most recent changes in the model, including those of the gravity wave parameterization and the Prandtl number, are described in García et al (2016) and López-Puertas et al (2017). In the a priori temperature climatology, the WACCM temperature fields have been corrected by using the MIPAS middle and upper atmosphere temperatures (García-Comas et al, 2014). For this, an altitude-and latitude-dependent seasonal correction function has been derived from multi-annual averages of MIPAScollocated WACCM differences.…”

A comparison of ground-based hydroxyl airglow temperatures with SABER/TIMED measurements over 23° N, India

“…Several space-borne instruments like the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the Aura satellite; Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment -Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) on SciSat-1; Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) and SCIAMACHY (Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography) on Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT); Solar Occultation for Ice Experiment (SOFIE) on the AIM satellite; Optical, Spectroscopic, and Infrared Remote Imaging System (ORISIS) on the Odin satellite; the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere (CRISTA) satellite instrument, and Sounding of the Atmosphere by Broadband Emission of Radiation (SABER) on-board the TIMED mission satellite have also contributed immensely to our knowledge of the temperature field of the MLT region (von Savigny et al, 2004;Scheer et al, 2006;Xu et al, 2007;Mulligan and Lowe, 2008;French and Mulligan, 2010;Sheese et al, 2011;García-Comas et al, 2012, 2014and references cited therein).…”